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Bellevue Elementary lauded as Title I Distinguished school
Named as “Title I Distinguished schools”, Bellevue Elementary and Broad Rock Elementary are the 2 Richmond Public Schools among the 46 statewide honored today by the the Virginia Board of Education for raising the academic achievement of economically disadvantaged students. The awards are based on student achievement on state assessments during the 2011-2012 and 2010-2011 school years.
Thirty-seven of Richmond’s 48 schools are listed as Title I schools. Title I is the largest federally funded program developed to provide additional educational services to help disadvantaged students meet state academic standards. Title I schools implement schoolwide or targeted assistance programs to ensure academic success for eligible students. Title I funds may be used for a variety of services and activities, primarily to supplement instruction in reading and mathematics.
So the other 35 basically threw a lot of money at the problem but it didn’t get better if I’m doing this word problem correctly? Well at least we have a good school in Bellevue and Chimbo does seem to be improving as well too.
Maybe throwing even more money through various federal programs is what we need to do for the rest? Start a Title II?
It’s not necessarily that 35 schools threw money at the problem with no results, I think it’s more about perception. Even though Bellevue is Title I, at some point people started to see it as a “better” RPS school (similar to what you’re saying about Chimbo). Instead of sending their children to Fox or a private school, parents begin choosing Bellevue and a positive community grew around the school. That can have just as big of an impact as money. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chimborazo in a similar position in the near future. We can throw millions of dollars at these schools, but until everyone that actually lives in the communities around them actually supports them, not much is going to change.
@2 – Good points for the most part. I’m a bit unclear on a few things though…
Are you suggesting that the answer isn’t more money in schools where the support system isn’t in place?
I also disagree with your statement “It’s not necessarily that 35 schools threw money at the problem with no results, I think it’s more about perception.” They did just that. Results are results. You either have them or you don’t. How people want to spin it is another story, as is what you think the take aways and causes of that are. But results are either there or they aren’t. Let’s not deny that.
@Alex – No, not suggesting money won’t help. But, like I mentioned, I think that having involved, supportive parents and a community can make a pretty huge impact on how successful a school is. I’ve worked in urban schools for years and have watched so much money funneled into programs that were not addressing real problems.
So, in many ways I agree about the money without results – I think I misspoke in my first comment. However, I still think that many RPS schools, especially elementary schools, have the potential to shift in a matter of a few years if people would stop sending their kids out.
@5 – Agreed. It would be nice if all the big shots in RPS headquarters would be focusing on the community involvement aspect instead of just asking for more money to throw at the same approaches. However it seems like their answer is always more funding.
If they had demonstrated the ability to get results, I’d be supportive of this. Fact is they haven’t. The few success stories in RPS have come from the actions of the communities around them, some very talented teachers and concerned parents. The hacks in charge haven’t had a thing to do with these success stories. The only thing they can do it seems is waste a bunch of money with nothing to show for it.
Regarding Bellevue and community involvement, it is true that we have parents in the neighborhood who are starting to send children to the school and it is true that parent and community support are the key to providing that extra support. But i will say, that the teachers, staff and title 1 instructors are the ones that earned this recent achievement. We (parents and community) are trying to build the infrastructure to support the teachers and supplement the public school agendas with the extra curricular items that provide a more robust learning experience but at Bellevue we have just begun. It’s an exciting time, watching the school blossom and seeing the school become alive again in our community. I hope you all will come to see our new museum that opens tomorrow at our 100 year celebration! It’s hard to believe that just last year, it was on a list of schools that were in danger of being closed.
Go Bellevue!!! It’s great to see the neighborhood schools get recognized. I agree with Heather – we all need to think of ways to thank our teachers.